Catfish and the Bottlemen: Hourglass
I love a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Catfish and the Bottlemen have been abolutely killing it this year, having released their debut album Balcony, they’ve reached Gold in the UK and shifted over 100 000 copies. Yet when the time came to create a music video for their latest single Hourglass, instead of taking credit, they decided to make a film displaying how the lead singer Van McCann actually stole the song from Ewan McGregor…
McGregor actually features in the clip, playing himself. The star is staying in a hotel room across the hallway from the room McCann is in. After mucking around on the guitar for a bit McGregor has to duck out, but not before he drops his recording on the hallway floor.
Despite being incredibly random, and barely containing any of the actual song, the clip works really well. Then again, you can’t really go wrong with Ewan McGregor.
Squarepusher: Stor Eiglass
Squarepusher have released a music video for their latest track Stor Eiglass, which I can only describe as intense. The film is essentially a highly pixilated, animated journey through a magical, slightly alien world. Lying somewhere between a children’s video game, and what I imagine it would feel like to take acid and walk around the streets of Canberra – it’s quite a trip.
Your eyes may start to hurt while watching this, but it does give the song a nice sense of movement. It’s also just a lot of fun. Keep doing what you’re doing, Squarepusher.
Lapalux: Puzzle
Following his announcement to be on the lineup of Strawberry Fields, Lapalux has released an awesome music video for his latest track Puzzle. The clip is like a mini feature film, with an incredibly well-executed narrative about a man who falls in love with a car. The cinematography and colour scheme is on point, as is the overall direction of the film. My only criticism is that it is perhaps a little too good…
The five minute clip takes us on an emotional journey, the main character experiencing lust, anguish, fear and resentment. Yet for its entirety we are stuck with the simple soundtrack of Lapalux’s song. The track becomes almost inadequate. Not because it isn’t good, but because it doesn’t always work with the emotions that we’re experiencing in the video clip. Puzzle raises an interesting question of whether a music video be over the top, whether it can actually outshine the song it was made for.
Tiger Choir: Shani
Tiger Choir’s new video for their latest track Shani stands in complete opposition to Lapalux. With absolutely no budget, it has a complete lack of pretense. Taking inspiration from Karaoke stock footage and the hazy neon aesthetic of films like Blade Runner, and films by prolific director Wong Kar Wei, they’ve created a music video that is subtle and artful. I expect great things from them!
The Lulu Raes: Swing me on a Vine of Sunshine
It’s quite ironic and quite hilarious that on the day The Lulu Raes embarked to film their sunny, feel good music video for Swing me on a Vine of Sunshine, Sydney had one of its worst hailstorms in history. It was so bad the storm actually engulfed the studio and they actually had to end filming prematurely.
Perhaps that’s why lead singer Eddie has this weird look in his eye while he sings to the camera, like he’s trying to mouth the words in a carefree manner but all he’s thinking is “fuck, we might actually die today”.
Despite the drama, the video clip still remains jolly. Cute superimposed shots of sunny palm trees, obviously from a place far, far away from their studio take us all to that happy place.
Hudson Mohawke: Very First Breath
Born in the underground clubbing scene in the UK, Hudson Mohawke has been demonstrating his considerable talent for producing and reworking other artists for over ten years now. His latest track Very First Breath, demonstrates that same talent for avante garde electronica, and it now has an awesome music video to go with it.
The song explores that existential feeling of falling out of love, of wanting to go back to beginning one more time and feel like you used to feel. Mohawke reflects this in film with a beautiful aesthetic. It features a a woman and a man who look part-human, part-avatar who obviously used to be an item and now want to kill each other. Sounds silly but its not. It’s actually quite poignant.
On the north coast of Wales is found the picturesque seaside town of Llandudno. With a population barely exceeding 20,000, and an abundance of resort hotels, it is hardly an ideal location to start a band. Nevertheless, Catfish & The Bottlemen, whose brand of brash and lively rock has seen them garner significant attention and acclaim in 2014, hail from this very town.
‘The thing was, we didn’t want to make a name for ourselves there,’ explains singer and (reluctant) guitarist Van McCann. ‘The last thing you want there is loud music; it’s like the most peaceful place in the world. We had nowhere to play, and people don’t like our music. They’re into dance music if they’re young, and everyone else is still into Roy Orbison.’
McCann is speaking to me from outside a London hotel. He talks quickly, with fervour and zeal, explaining how the band were forced to look elsewhere for opportunities.
‘It’s a great place to come home to, but we had to make our name everywhere else. Places like Manchester and Sheffield have taken us in as home. We just see ourselves as [having] been on tour our whole lives. Home has been on the road; we don’t feel like we’re from anywhere.’
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Catfish & The Bottlemen is their self-proclaimed mediocrity. ‘We know we’re nothing special,’ admits McCann. ‘We think inside the box. There’s loads of better looking bands and better musicians than us. They rule the British music industry, and we came out – dead scruffy and looking like Austin Powers – and we just wrote songs the way everyone expects them to write. I think people forget that there’s kids sat there going, Oasis are gone now; where’s our band? I think we just made music that was dead simple, and [has] honest lyrics, and I think I just scream ’em with passion and people go, you know what, he talks sense; he’s not trying to be something he’s not.’
But success has been a long time coming for the band. ‘Well we’ve been together for eight years now, and we’ve been grasping for it. We’ve been living in the van for seven of ’em, we’ve been rubbish for six of ’em, and we’ve been skint for… eight of ’em.’
It’s an honest assessment from an honest young man, whose frank and outspoken nature is evident in his songwriting. Indeed, he lists The Streets, Van Morrison (after whom he is named) and The National among his inspirations. ‘I’m really into lyrics, and really good singers. I’m a singer. I don’t even like playing guitar, I just do it ’cause I don’t know anyone else who’ll do it for me. To me, it’s about words and melody, and it’s about hitting people there.’
Apparently Australians understand. ‘You guys get me!’ he exclaims. ‘You’re just like, he’s 22, he’s singing about swearing and drinking and being in a small town and falling in love – and out of love – and falling out with best mates and all that sort of stuff. In England I get loads of stick for it.’
Perhaps that Australian sensibility was forged in the early years of McCann’s life. ‘[My parents] took me over there when I was a baby. We toured around for like two years in the back of a car, just seeing everywhere with no agenda, and Mum and Dad just working wherever they could find work. It was class. So for me, I always said to the record label, how do we break Australia? I’ve never met a band who’s come back from Australia and said they’ve had success there. I’ve only met people who’ve broken America. I want to come back and tell my dad about Australia and tell him that we sold out theatres over there, and that the place he took me ’round as a baby – the cities – I’m going back to those places now as a man, or a young lad, and selling them out. I’d love to be able to tell my dad that.’
Catfish & The Bottlemen’s first tour of Australia is less than a week away. The band are supporting The Kooks on a run of shows, which for McCann is ‘massive’. One of the driving forces behind their imminent visit is the support of radio DJ Zane Lowe, without whom the band would almost certainly not have garnered the attention that they have. I quizzed Van about the relevance of radio in today’s technological landscape.
‘Well, to be honest, when I was a kid I never listened to the radio; I was always out playing football with my mates. I didn’t think it meant anything. When we got played on the radio… I didn’t realise what it did. It’s mad; it goes out to so many people. In England, [BBC] Radio One have stages at festivals, they bring bands up the ranks… It’s like being a soccer player; they take you in as a youth player and train you up and make you better.’
Catfish & The Bottlemen are certainly an exponent of that system, but it hasn’t altered their youthful outlook and inimitable enthusiasm. ‘We just love being in this band. We just love it; that’s why we’re so driven. Imagine being told as a 22-year-old lad that your band’s getting flown to Australia to support a band in an arena where there’s loads of mad Australians with all their beautiful women.’
‘You’re living the dream,’ I told him. He wholeheartedly agreed.
Catfish & The Bottlemen are supporting The Kooks on the following dates:
UK indie rock favourites The Kooks have announced plans to tour Australia and New Zealand in January. The band released their fourth album, Listen, three weeks ago, after three singles of varying quality hit triple j earlier in the year. Building on the sound they constructed on 2011’s Junk of the Heart, The Kooks approached young hip hop artist Inflo to produce Listen. Consequently, the album traverses new ground for the band, offering more soulful, layered and synth-imbued moments than their previous albums, which earned The Kooks a reputation as one of Britain’s most unique and eclectic rock bands.
With support from The Griswolds and Catfish & The Bottlemen, The Kooks will be performing four Australian shows and one all ages show in Auckland (on the 15th January). Tickets are available at 9am on Friday 3rd October from here.
This was originally written for Scenewave.